Please note! The 8/13 show in St Louis scheduled for Fubar has been moved to Off Broadway. Doors are at 5pm– all tickets are honored. Please help us spread the word, it was out of our control! Still all-ages. And gonna be fun.

Off Broadway
3509 Lemp Ave.
St. Louis, MO

Chicago! We’re down to the last few tickets and we just released a few more beer VIP tickets.Rumors of a Five Iron Frenzy inspired brew from 350 Brewing are not exaggerated… they are hereby confirmed. One night only though! On tap.

8/12- Pilfers, J. Navarro and the Traitors, Still Alive — as support
8/13- Ravenhill as support^^ different for each show! ok bye!

Hey, I get to explain lyrics! Not that these need much of an explanation, there is no complex metaphor here. The song is literally about riding into a storm: I was on a train in August of 2011 as Hurricane Irene was making her way up the East Coast. The news media had been making grand statements about it being the ‘storm of the century’ and how millions would probably die or worse. (We had Hurricane Sandy two years later which was far more damaging, but I digress.) Anyway, there I was, riding New Jersey Transit as the skies darkened and buckets of rain dumped on the windows. These commutes are rarely of a sanguine affair, but this one was unusually dour. You might say it was a dark and stormy night.

Fast forward three days: My town was one of the places they showed on the news to convince the nation that the flooding in NJ was really bad. And it was. After the water receded there were dead fish, muddy shoes, old tires, and piles of waterlogged discards from the dozens of flooded homes on my street. Enter big thoughts about faith, trust, and the freedom that comes from letting go of stuff.

Some fun facts: way back when Reese was my room mate, he may or may not have owned a stuffed doll meant to look like Ernie, as in the cheerful half of Ernie and Burt. That line was for him. Also, there used to be the line “there goes my carnal man” – I was trying to get all existential Watchman Nee style, but Reese changed that line to “minivan”. Probably a good call.

Disclaimer: I hate this. It goes against every fiber of my being to have to explain what a song I have written is about. Not out of some sense of elitist pride or anything, but because I think the most important thing about any piece of art is not what the creator wants it to be, but how it is perceived. For me, there are countless songs that I heard while growing up that have no significance, spiritually or nostalgia-wise, to the artist, but mean the world to me. I don’t want to ruin that for you. That being said, enough people have asked, including the other devious people in my band, so I have been peer-pressured into doing it. Please don’t let this ruin our music for you. Draw your own conclusions, too. And, did I mention that I hate this? I hope you hate it, too. – Reese

“Are we losing you now, November-one-two?”,
said the radio, hoping to break through.
“We can get you out, if you’ll just keep on.”
And the plot keeps thickening, so please be strong.
And all this time, you’ve never given up and you’re never giving out.
All this time, you can never go back, but you’ve never had more doubt.

Between the pavement and the stars, beneath the the weight of years of scars, burns the same soul- paint the sky blue. Hallelujah, you’re still you.

Signal’s breaking up, at the edge of night.
Have you lost the will to be in this fight?
Just keep digging in, don’t give up on us yet.
Are we coming in clear, on the radio set?
And all this time, when there’s hardly any day, and hardly ever night
All this time, where you’re halfway in shadows, and halfway in light.

And Love is patient, it barely crawls. And Love has only conquered all.

Explanation:
It hurt me so much to have this song cut from the album. But, Five Iron is a true democracy, and the rest of the band felt the album as a whole would do better with this song being replaced by an update of “It Was A Dark and Stormy Night”. No hard feelings guys, this is what you’re supposed to do in an “explanation”. I’m just explaining. Not at all lamenting the loss of this song. *sniffle*

This song is about a dear friend of mine, who no longer feels that she believes in Christ. I wanted to write a song that somehow said- “You are still this wonderful, beautiful, person after all this time and all the suffering you have had to go through”, and “ Do you feel that? It’s love. God has still got your number.” I tried to paint a picture of someone lost in a battle, and being hailed on a radio- just like Five Iron tries to do sometimes with you. Yeah, just to say “Hang in there,” much like an inspirational poster featuring a kitty. The Mary Poppins lines are most definitely intentional(especially after 6:00). Your soul is beautiful, November-One-Two. Though my love has failed you, His love will not.

BONUS:Here are some lines I cut from the final song-

Are we losing you now, November-one-two?
has this cruel world, stripped the joy from you?
Is it grinding you, grinding to a crawl?
Dear little girl, Love has conquered all.

And all of us are losing,
all of us are lost.

What the trouble,
vexing fight,
there is no darkness,
only lack of light.

Disclaimer: I hate this. It goes against every fiber of my being to have to explain what a song I have written is about. Not out of some sense of elitist pride or anything, but because I think the most important thing about any piece of art is not what the creator wants it to be, but how it is perceived. For me, there are countless songs that I heard while growing up that have no significance, spiritually or nostalgia-wise, to the artist, but mean the world to me. I don’t want to ruin that for you. That being said, enough people have asked, including the other devious people in my band, so I have been peer-pressured into doing it. Please don’t let this ruin our music for you. Draw your own conclusions, too. And, did I mention that I hate this? I hope you hate it, too. – Reese

There you are, hogging the front page.
Drawing blanks when thinking of sin’s wage.
If everyone has fallen short
some humbleness is overdue.
If I wished your face got stabbed,
well, I’d be just as bent as you.

There’s a chip that’s on my shoulder, sucking us into quicksand. The temperature is getting colder a backwards ticking second hand.

There you go bullying again,
stealing the spotlight from better men.
If God is love, you got it wrong,
waving all your placards and flags.
The very fact that you’re alive,
says God must also love douche bags.

And the only saving grace, we only ever need speak of,
if ever there’s a question, the answer is to love.

Explanation:

YEAH! This is the absolute best part of not being on an actual label. I mean, yes- we can play Glilman Street now. And yes, we are pretty much the punkest band you have ever seen. But, what I’m trying to say is- this song may have made some of you uncomfortable. So, let me explain myself. When Five Iron rolled through the first time, I was very concerned with trying not to offend people. To be fair, if you have spent much time in the Church, or around church-type people- they get offended VERY easily. The president of our label, Frank Tate, had given us a speech on this subject so many times that it became an inside joke: “Uh, I don’t think that’s going to go over very well in the Midwest, guys.” The last four years we toured, I was an actual pastor of a church (Never mind what our church was called, please keep reading.) So I tended to use that as a basis of how I wrote lyrics. I wanted to engage people, to edify them, to challenge them- but not offend them. Very pastoral. Well…

What I realized in those 10 years I spent not being in Five Iron, was that I was working very hard to avoid offending the wrong people. I may be wrong, but that is my current conviction. Because what I see, is that most of the world is disgusted with what an absolute political puppet the Evangelical Church has become in America. When did the name of Christ become synonymous with stockpiling ammunition and boycotting Walt Disney? No one who has even just seen a cartoon about Christmas or looked at even a really bad painting of Jesus – can put those things together. Much less, anyone who has read the New Testament. If Jesus truly broke down all of Scripture into two basic bullet-points: To love the Lord God with all your heart, and to Love your neighbor as you love yourself- then what are we doing? If love is the filter through which all scripture should be interpreted, what is this farce we are calling His Church? Yes, I somehow barely avoided saying that I wanted to stab some people in the face. I did not, however, stop myself from calling members of the Westboro Baptist Church- douchebags. Those are the kind of people I want to offend. Not out of spite, but out of a sense of justice.

No matter what your stance on homosexuality is (and you can read mine here if you wish, although I do not speak for everyone in our band), if you love Jesus Christ- that love should temper everything you do. I have decided that I am not going to waste any more energy trying to avoid offending churchgoers. What I do want to do, is share the love of Christ with the people who need it, and to show them that He is just, merciful, and true. Sorry if that gets in the way of your picket lines.

BONUS!!!
Here is an earlier bridge I kind of wish we had saved:

I remember some old book somewhere, something that might ring a bell. It said that it is love, that steals our souls from hell.

AND TWO OTHER VERSIONS.(Not about homophobia or the Westboro Baptist Church, but equally as depressing. So depressing that everyone made me rewrite them.)

—cooled by the wind of a passing subway(Lyrics: Reese Roper)

Heat seeps out from between the cracks,
the pavement sucks my sweat out as a tax.
Just to barely feel the breeze
to only ever not be here.
As the subway breathes its cold air,
I lean in with a prayer.

There’s something to be said for freedom like sparrows who will fly away. To only ever know peace, like the wind from a passing subway.

Smoke curls around the concrete spires,
the avenues are boiling through your tires.
Did you hear the story?
Some lady who went insane.
Dropped her grocery bags and,
stepped into the train.

—a murder of crows.(Lyrics: Reese Roper)

Shadows. The back seat of some plane.
Gin and tonic shoulders pain.
In remembrance of you,
take a swig for the coming storms.
I’ll pretend I’m not alone.
I’ve got my spite to keep me warm.